“Did Maimonides Really Say That? The Widespread Claim That He Condoned Wife-Battering May Be Mistaken” From Journal of Religion & Abuse 6/3–4 (2005). By Rabbi David E. S. Stein.

DESCRIPTION

That the famous Rabbi Moses Maimonides (Egypt, 1178) condoned—or even recommended—spousal abuse has been widely reported. The claim involves one sentence in his writings (Ishut § 21.10a). The present article finds that the standard interpretation of this passage ignores the text’s figures of speech, the case dynamics, the issue’s legal history, and the literary context. The author finds unconvincing the published “proof” that medieval legal experts read the passage literally. The article concludes by pondering the meaning of the standard view’s popularity.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

© 2005 by The Haworth Press, Inc. The author is permitted “downloading to colleagues for the advancement of scientific research [but] not for either commercial (for-profit) or systematic third-party sales or dissemination.” For all other uses, please purchase the article via the Haworth Press article search page, searching for “Maimonides” in the title.

VERSION

Reformatted for letter-size paper (8.5” x 11”) [PDF]

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Updated 2 November 2009 • Culver City, California, USA